North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will visit Moscow in May, the Voice of America reported Saturday quoting a Russian presidential spokesman.
This means, barring some emergencies or last-minute change of mind, the 70th anniversary of Russian Victory Day will provide a stage for the young ruler’s international debut since he took power in 2011.
Whether Kim will receive diplomatic spotlight or be treated as an outcast by other national leaders is up to the chairman of the North’s National Defense Commission, and how his regime does in the run-up to his first trip abroad.
The current regional atmosphere can hardly be more disadvantageous for Kim.
Since taking the helms of the impoverished country more than three years ago, Kim is regarded to have successfully solidified his grip on power, and even improved its dire economic situation a bit. Overseas, however, North Korea’s pariah status has aggravated further amid its tug-of-war with the United States over the release of the film “The Interview” and the hacking allegation of its maker, Sony Entertainment.
Most unbearable for the communist regime and its inexperienced dictator might be the unrelenting pressure from its archenemy, America. U.S. President Barack Obama, in an interview with Youtube Thursday, hinted that his administration would resort to “cyber war” instead of military options, in forcing the isolated regime to collapse under the power of awakened population through the Internet and other means of delivering information.
We cannot know for sure what the U.S. shift from a military to a softer, but possibly more effective form of attack, will mean for Pyongyang right now. What’s certain for Kim and his coterie is the need for them to improve relations with its two nearest neighbors ― South Korea and China ― to both ease the U.S. pressure and effectively play its Russian diplomatic card.
Nothing would be more awkward for the North Korean leader to meet Presidents Park Geun-hye and Xi Jinping ― assuming that the two leaders also accept Russia’s invitation and visit Moscow ― for the first time in the Russian capital, as Pyongyang’s relationship with Seoul and Beijing is at one of its lowest points. Particularly, North Korea will need to strive harder to improve ties with the South by reopening various channels of dialogue without cumbersome strings attached. Seoul has made it clear, more than a few times, that it can discuss any issue at resumed talks.
Cheong Wa Dae has reportedly yet to decide whether to accept Russia’s invitation. President Park should visit Moscow to conduct what she uses to describe as “unification diplomacy,” even if many Western leaders, including Obama, are likely to avoid the commemorative event because of Russia’s intervention in the Ukrainian conflict.
Park needs to practice what she preached during her New Year address, when she said that Seoul would push ahead with inter-Korean rapprochement despite friction between Washington and Pyongyang. There are caveats: the foreign ministry must make perfect preparations to prevent the South Korean leader from being a stalking horse in the Moscow-Pyongyang show of socialist alliance.